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W. H. RUSHFORTH.

EEED WATER HEATER. No. 391,390. Patented Oct. 16, 1888.

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XVILLIAM HENRY RUSIIFORTH, OF RUTHERFORD PARK, NE\V JERSEY, ASSIGNOR TO THE RUSHFORTH FEED WATER HEATER COMPANY, OF JERSEY CITY, NEV JERSEY, AND NEV YORK, N. Y.

FEED-WIER HEATER.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 391,390. dated October l6, 1888.

Application filed June 2'?, 1888. Serial No. 278,360.

To aZZ whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, WILLIAM HENRY RUSH- FORTH, of Rutherford Park, Bergen county, New Jersey, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Feed-Vater Heaters, which improvement is fully set forth in the following specification.

rl`his invention has reference to the construction of feed-water heaters or devices for heating the water on its way to the boiler of a locomotive or other engine, and particularly to that class of feed-water heaters in which the heating-coil is located in the smoke-box of the engine insuch position as to be heated by the products ofcombustion passing from the boilertubes through the smoke-box. An apparatus of this character is described in Letters Patent No. 318,880, granted to me May 26, 1885. The coil or heater of such an appliance is eX- posed to an intense heat, (from 500 to 800D Eahrenheit,) which quickly destroys it, unless a constant circulation of water is maintained therein, whether the feed-pump be in or out of operation. Owing to failure to provide proper means toinsure this constant circulation, most attempts to construct a feedwater heater on this plan have proved unsuccessful.

The object of the presentinvention is to improve the heater described in my aforesaid patent in point of insuring a constant circulation of the boiler-water through the heatingcoil at all times, and in other respects to increase the efficiency and reliability of the apparatus, as hereinafter pointed out.

I will describe the invention in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which- Figure I is an elevation looking toward the front end of the boiler; Fig. II, a vertical section in a plane transverse to that of Fig. I; and Fig. III, a detail in section on a larger scale, showing the entering-nozzle for thefeed-water.

Arepresents the smoke-box of a locomotive or other engine; B, the boiler; and b, the boilertubes, through which pass the hot products of combustion.

O is the feed water heater, comprising a coil composed of straight pipes and bends, preferably of cast-steel. The lower end of the (No model.)

heater C connects with the lower part of the boiler by a pipe, c, and the upper end of the coil likewise connects with the boiler by a pipe, c. Both these connections are below the water-line of the boiler, and no part of the coil O rises above this water-line. These details are essential to secure the desired circulation th rough the heater.

D is a goose-neck connecting the feed-water pipe with the boiler. Itis connected by flanges and bolts with the casting d, which is a back outlet and constitutes a part of the coil O, as best shown in Fig. III. Into the conical part d of the casting d, which proj eets into the bend of the coil, is introduced acopper nozzle, c, its large end resting against the flanged end of goose-neck D.

E represents a check-valve of ordinary construction for cutting off the supply of water to the heater when desired. There is an additional check-valve, f, hinged'at the end ofnozzle c, and which automatically cuts Iofthe heating-coil from the goose-neck upon failure of feed-pump or injector. Thelower connection with the boiler is made through a flanged elbow, H, closed at one end by a plug, lz. By removing this plug the boiler can be examined, or a hosepipe introduced and the boiler easily washed out. Heretofore the cleaning or inspection of the boiler has been a matter of great difficulty.

X/Vhen the apparatus is properly working, valvef being open, as shown in the drawings, water is forced into the coil O through nozzle e and circulates through the side coil in the direction of the arrows, becoming thereby highly heated before it enters the boiler B at inlet c. At the same time the stream of watcr issuing through the nozzle e acts by suction, on the principle of the injector, to produce a circulation of water from the lower part of the boiler through the coil O. This circulation of the boiler-water through. the coil is not produced solely by the nozzle c, though materially assisted thereby, but is primarily caused by the heat of the coil and the difference in temperature between the water in the upper part of the boiler and that in the lower part thereof. 'When check-valves E and fare closed, this circulation of the boiler-Water still continues, so that the coil C is kept full ofWater and its destruction by the heat ofthe smokeboX prevented; but the maintenance of a circulation of the boiler-water itself during the time the feed-pump or injector is in operation is an important function of the apparatus, in that it maintains at all times a practically u niform temperature throughout all parts of the boiler, thus preventing unequal expansion and contractiomwhich are the most fruitful sources ot' leakage,by opening seams and loosening rivets.

In case of necessity, or Whenever desired,

the nozzle e and check-valve j' can be withdrawn by simply loosening the bolts g, whichr connect the casting d and goose-neck D.

Ido not claim herein the combination, with the boiler and feed-pipe, of the heating-coil located entirely below the water-line of the boiler and the inlet-nozzle projecting into Said coil, as that forms the subject-matter of my applsication, Serial No. 23,997, filed January 1],

Having now fully described my said invention, what I claim and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In a locomotive or other engine, the combination, Withthe boiler and feed-pipe, of a continuous heating-coil located in the smokeboX and connected at its ends with the boiler below the Water-line thereof, a casting forniing one of the bends of said coil having an opening communicating with said feed-pipe, and aremovablenozzleinserted in said opening, substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

2. In a locomotive or other engine, the combination, with the boiler and feed-pipe, of a heating-coil connected with said boiler at each end, a nozzle projecting into one of the bends of said coil and communicating with said feedpipe, and a check-valve on the inner end of said nozzle, substantially as described.

3. In a locomotive or other engine, the conibination, with the boiler and feed-pipe, of the heating-coil located in the smoke-box of the engine and connected with the boiler through an elbow having a removable plug, by the removal of which access to the boiler can be gained for cleaning or inspection, snbstarr tially as described.

In testimony whereofI have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM HENRY RUSIIFORTH.

TWitnesses:

PHILIP MAURO, C. J. HEDRioK. 

